__________________ A selection of thoughts from Keith Bohanna

February 21, 2011

Telling your story - PR and Social Media Masterclass 8th March

One of the areas I find fascinating is how PR is having to evolve to integrate social media. Both offer rich opportunities for small businesses across all sectors in Ireland to get the word out about products and services.

During Savour Kilkenny last year I met Miriam Donohue who was responsible for the PR for the festival and since then we have talked about how to combine our respective fields of work. Together with Noreen D'Arcy we have put together a focused one day workshop for businesses which is being held in the Pembroke Hotel in Kilkenny.

Details here:

Aimed at businesses or organisations, the day will be split into two sessions:- 1) A DIY PR Workshop in the morning hosted by former Irish Times journalist and owner of MD Media, Miriam Donohoe, and Noreen D’Arcy, director of D’Arcy Marketing and PR (www.darcymarketingandpr.ie)2) A session on how to use Social Media to promote your business or organisation hosted by well known expert on social media and blogger, Keith Bohanna (www.keithbohanna.com)

The morning session will cover:· What is PR· How to use PR to promote your business or organisation· Getting started – how to build a media contacts database· Five steps to writing a good press release· A practical session in press release writing· How to make a pitch to the media· The importance of using good quality, high res pictures with a press release

The afternoon session will cover:· What is Social Media· Where does it fit in today’s communications world· Why social media is now essential in running any PR campaign· How to utilise Blogging, Twitter and Facebook when telling your story· Dealing with negative feedback on social media

(Please note that we will not have time in the social media session in the afternoon to cover the basics of using the various tools.)